A Family-Friendly Chinese New Year Celebration

2017 Is The Year Of The Rooster

Last year, for the first time, our family celebrated Chinese New Year. A certain Miss Party Mummy inspired me to give it a go and I'm so glad I did. The kids had a blast. They loved learning about a new culture and eating food they don't typically eat. Best of all it didn't take a lot of effort on my part.

Here's how you can throw a simple Chinese New Year's celebration for your family.

THE FACTS:

This year Chinese New Year is on Saturday, January 28.

2017 is the Year Of The Rooster.

THE FUN:

Buy red and gold decorations at the dollar store.

Find out what animal you are and print out a fact sheet for each family member to read out loud at the table.

Put money into an origami envelope made out of red paper (red symbolizes good luck). I decorated ours with a Chinese symbol that represented each of us (Son No. 1 was Wind because he skates fast like the wind)

But that doesn't mean we don't miss going out to restaurants where crayons aren't provided when we're seated and being able to talk one-on-one with no interruptions. So in January I decided that once a month we were going to have a date night.

We picked a night that would work for both of us and wouldn't interfere with the things we love—him hockey, me speed skating. Then I texted my babysitter and made arrangements for her to come on that night every third week of the month. The planning is done, the arrangements are made, and we're able to reconnect and have some time just for us. The fact that it's the same night each month means we know well in advance we're going out. Simply put, we've taken the guesswork out of making a date.

If you don't have a babysitter, make arrangements with a friend to trade off babysitting services. You take her kids for a night, she takes yours.

Valentine's Day only comes once a year. Doesn't your relationship deserve a bit more than that?

Pump Dispensers And Unusable Product

Pet Peeve Alert

It's about an inch of body cream at the bottom of the container that I can't use because the pump doesn't reach down to the very bottom. All those swirly markings in the cream are because I'm trying to scrape up the cream with the bottom of the pump. Do I even have to explain to you how annoying this is?

Because I will.

If you are someone who manufacturers a product that comes with a pump dispenser MAKE THE PUMP REACH THE VERY BOTTOM SO I CAN USE ALL OF THE PRODUCT I PAID FOR.

And if you are someone who manufactures a product that comes with a pump dispenser that DOES reach the bottom, tell me who you are because I will become a loyal customer.

Thank you.

p.s. Don't even get me started on how I can't find mittens for my son in January but I would have no problem buying him an entire summer wardrobe and 30 SPF sunscreen.

Sharon is a Common Sense Parent which is somewhere in between being free-range and helicopter. She believes in being active as a family and eating well 85% of the time. The other 15% is for the days when she's PMSing and then all bets are off. So far her parenting style has worked wonders for her two boys who astound her on a daily basis but that's not to say she doesn't have time to totally screw it up. She can't teach you how to keep your house clean while balancing a job and motherhood but if you're a mom who's struggling to figure it out, you've found your tribe.